EMU regents approve four-year agreement with police officers union

By Kellie Woodhouse Higher education reporter

Posted on Wed, Jul 25, 2012 : 5:56 a.m.

The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents unanimously approved a four-year contract for the 21-member police officers union.

The new agreement awards EMU Police Officers Association members a 0 percent raise the first year, a 1 percent raise the second year and a 2 percent raise the third and fourth years.

The association had been in tense negotiations with EMU since February and, unsatisfied with health care options and raises, voted down a possible contract in May.

A second contract passed in late June.

The agreement includes an increase in health insurance premiums, which will be $125 a month for the most commonly chosen plan and rise 12 percent each year afterward for the duration of the contract. EMU offered the officers a $1,250 lump sum payment to assuage concerns about health care costs, as they did with faculty members in 2010.

Officers negotiated a more rapid rise to top pay. When the contract begins July 1, it will take officers five years to reach the top pay scale, which is currently roughly $58,000 for employees without a degree and $60,400 for employees with a degree.

That's an improvement from the current eight-year scale.

EMU is still in negotiations with the clerical union and faculty union.

The regents approved the contract during a special 4 p.m. meeting Tuesday. Regents did not discuss Susan Martin, or the controversy surrounding their May letter reprimanding her for drinking.

Tags: Eastern Michigan University